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Western Heritage

Weatherford has a rich western heritage filled with colorful characters. Legendary cattle drover Oliver Loving is buried here in Weatherford’s Greenwood Cemetery. After being attacked by Indians in New Mexico in 1867, Loving’s dying wish to his friend, Charles Goodnight, was to be buried in his home, Parker County. Goodnight brought the body back 600 miles by wagon for burial. If this story sounds familiar, it should. It is the inspiration behind Texas author Larry McMurtry’s novel,Lonesome Dove.

A year earlier, Charles Goodnight had invented the first “chuck wagon” which catered “fixings” for the cowboys on a cattle drive that would later become known as the Goodnight-Loving Trail.

Boze Ikard, who served with Goodnight and for whom the character “Deets” was modeled, was also laid to rest in the Greenwood Cemetery.

Now known as the Cutting Horse Capital of the World, Weatherford is home to hundreds of professional trainers, Hall-of-Fame horses and a breathtaking, life-size bronze cutting horse. “Cutters” from all over the country, send their horses here for training or breeding to the best studs in the industry. Several National Cutting Horse Association affiliates hold local competitions on a regular basis. One of Weatherford’s greatest attractions for the cutters in the native “sandy loam” soil that is cushioning for a horse’s feet.